Girls Growing Up

Grooming and Hygiene

Remember when you were a kid — you tried all kinds of ways to avoid taking a bath? Well, things have been changing for you and you probably feel like showering or bathing more often now. Maybe you're finally realizing that baths aren't so bad anymore. Or perhaps you're realizing that your body changes require some new hygiene habits. Either way, the changes you're experiencing at this time may make you feel like you look different and perhaps smell different than you did when you were a kid. Don't worry, it just means you're becoming an adult.

Sweating doesn't have to cause body odor

You lose about one quart of water each day even without exercising, so be sure you drink lots of water so you can stay cool.You might find that you're sweating more now, even when you're not exercising or in hot weather.
You've always had the sweat glands that are producing more sweat. But during puberty, the sweat glands become much more active than when you were a kid.

Sweating is a normal, healthy and necessary process. You've got all these systems working in your body - your heart is beating, your stomach is digesting, your brain is thinking, your muscles are helping you move. All these bodily processes are creating heat. Your body temperature would reach a dangerous level and you would eventually die if your body couldn't get rid of all the heat it's producing. That's where sweating comes in.

Sweating helps your body get rid of the excess heat it is creating. It also helps you stay a safe temperature on a hot day. Even when you don't always notice sweat on your skin, you are still sweating and giving off heat.

You have sweat glands all over your body, but there are more of them in your armpits, feet, and groin. You may have already noticed more sweat and new smells from these areas of your body. These are normal and easy to deal with safely. First it helps to understand what causes the smell we typically think of as body odor.

It might surprise you to know this, but it's not actually sweat that causes odor. Body odor is caused by the reaction of your sweat with the bacteria that is already on your skin. The sweat that your body produces while you're exercising is also different from the sweat it produces if you're nervous or anxious.

So even if you don't notice any odor after exercising, you might notice an odor after a stressful situation. Armpit sweat has extra substances in it that tend to react more strongly with the bacteria on your skin causing a stronger odor. For example, if you stand up to speak in front of your class, that could cause the kind of sweating that is more likely to cause body odor.

Foot and Body Odor

Foot odor can be particularly distressing for many women. Some people are more prone to getting it than others. If you have smelly feet, start by using a washcloth to scrub your feet daily. Dusting your feet with baby powder and wearing clean socks will help cut down on sweat and odor. If you wear sandals or shoes without socks, choose ones with good ventilation. You can use an antiperspirant on your feet and try odor-absorbing shoe inserts. You should also let your shoes air out completely overnight before wearing them again. Everyone has body odor at some point in her life, but most people have found ways to keep it in check so that no one else notices. The best way to keep feeling and smelling fresh is to take a bath or shower every day to wash away the bacteria and dirt on your skin. Use a soap that isn't too harsh and plenty of warm water. If you have dry skin, hotter water may aggravate the dryness.

You should wear a fresh pair of socks and underwear every day. Wearing clothes made of natural or "breathable" fabrics (like cotton) will help keep you feeling drier and more comfortable if you sweat a lot. If you like to wear sweaters or other heavier clothes, wearing a cotton t-shirt underneath them may help you feel less sweaty too. It may sound weird to wear another layer to sweat less, but that in-between layer helps to absorb the moisture from your skin and allows it to evaporate better. It can also help protect your favorite clothes.

Since underarm odor is so common, many Americans use a deodorant or antiperspirant. Antiperspirants stop or reduce underarm sweating. Deodorants don't prevent sweating, but rather cover up odor in your armpit. There are plenty of products available that you may try.

By womenshealth.about.com

Q. Are sex toys safe?

A.

The turn off is understandable. Sex toys, while a lot of fun, are by no means necessary to having a good (or great) sex life. But if you like them, hopefully the turn off will pass, and maybe some information on what we know, and don’t know, about the safety of sex toys will help.

The short answer to your question is that there are a few easy ways to make many sex toys safe to use. In fact, as long as you are not allergic to latex, you can reduce the risk of reacting to any sex toy by simply putting a condom over it. If you are allergic to latex there are still plenty of options. Now the long answer…

The vast majority of sex toy manufacturers do not disclose what they put in their toys. This “mystery material” may pose health risks, but we have no way of knowing for sure.

Sex toys are not approved, tested, or regulated by the FDA. They are sold as novelty items, not medical devices.

We do know that many soft rubber toys are made using phthalates , which have been linked to several environmental and individual health issues, in a variety of other consumer products. The most common sex toys that are made with phthalates are called jelly rubber but many other kinds of soft rubber toys also contain phthalates.

We also know that manufacturers often give their toys an artificial scent (to mask the smell of phthalate off gassing), and these scents, along with the dyes they use, and the material itself, could be something people have allergic reactions to.

At the same time, because there have never been clinical studies done of sex toys that we can measure the validity of (by that I mean laboratory studies that have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals) there is really no way of knowing the risk of using these toys.

On the one hand, you might say that if there was a significant health risk to the general population it may have been revealed by now, given how many people use sex toys. On the other hand, if someone has an allergic reaction to a sex toy, or even if someone has a serious condition that may have been exacerbated by sex toy use, how often will they tell their doctor about their sex toys?

So where does that leave us? I’m always a bit suspicious of stores that use fear, and selective information, in order to push consumers to spend more at their stores. While higher quality, hypoallergenic, materials, like silicone, and elastomers, are absolutely the better choice, they are expensive and out of reach for many of us. If you aren’t allergic to latex, you can always put a condom on a toy. Most of the sex stores I recommend carry a range of products, of varying quality, but they always offer safety information, so customers can make up their own mind, and not be guided by fear based up selling.

As with any other safer sex issue the important thing is for each individual to understand and assess their own risk , which you can only do by getting as much information as you can, and making a thoughtful decision, preferably not in the heat of the moment. Whenever I deal with sex stores I’ll ask the people who work there what they know about what is in a given sex toy, and the safety concerns. If I feel like they are only giving me one side of the story, I’ll wait and ask at another store before purchasing.

By sexuality.about.com